Sarah Attar

Sarah Attar
Personal information
Nationality Saudi Arabian, American
Born August 27, 1992 (age 22)
Escondido, U.S.
Residence Malibu
Sport
Country  Saudi Arabia
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 800 metres
College team Pepperdine University
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals London 2012 (didn't advance)
Personal best(s) 2:40:00

Sarah Attar (Arabic: سارة عطار‎) (born August 27, 1992), is a track and field athlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the first female Olympians representing Saudi Arabia. She has Saudi Arabian and American dual nationality and is currently a student at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles County, California.

Early life and education

Attar was born in Escondido, California in 1992.[1][2] Her mother, Judy, is an American national hailing from California[3] and her father, Amer, is a Saudi Arabian national.[4][5] She graduated from Escondido High School in 2010,[1] having competed for the school in cross country running.[6] As of 2012 she attends Pepperdine University,[2] where she is majoring in art, having won the Rex Hamilton Memorial Art Scholarship.[1]

Athletic career

Attar was named one of the first two women to compete for Saudi Arabia in their Olympic team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The other woman representing Saudi Arabia is judoka Wojdan Shaherkani. Prior to June 2012, the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee had banned female athletes from competing at the Olympics,[7] but the International Olympic Committee had threatened to ban Saudi Arabia from the Games unless they allowed women to compete.[8] She was expected to wear outfits that comply with Islamic law.[9]

Attar is sponsored by Oiselle, a running apparel company focused on promoting and supporting female athletes, as of April 16, 2015, when she announced the news via a post on the company's blog.[10] Oiselle also announced the news on its Twitter account.[11]

2012 Olympic Games

Attar was one of two athletes from her University to be selected to compete at the Olympics, along with Roxanne Barker, who is on the South African team.[5]

During the Opening Ceremonies' Parade of Nations, Attar and Shaherkani, the only two females in the Saudi Arabian delegation, were forced to walk behind their male teammates,[12] unlike delegations from other Islamic nations.[13]

Attar competed in the women's 800 metres and took up the automatic qualification spot for a track and field athlete.[14][15] Her personal best at that distance is 2:40,[1] having competed at this distance during high school but not since she has attended college.[14] Attar competed in Heat 6 of the women's 800m qualifying heats on August 8, 2012, where she finished last, with a time of 2:44.95. Despite finishing more than half a minute slower than her nearest competitor, hundreds of spectators stood and applauded Attar as she crossed the finish line.[16] Olympic TV coverage of her finish.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sarah Attar". Pepperdine Sports. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Pilon, Mary (July 13, 2012). "Saudi Arabian Trailblazer, by Way of United States". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Sarah Attar - Salon.com". Salon.com. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  4. ↑ Claverie, Aaron (July 12, 2012). "Pepperdine track athlete making Olympics history for Saudi Arabia". North County Times. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Pepperdine's Attar to Make History Running for Saudi Arabia at Olympics". Pepperdine Sports. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Sarah Attar - Cross Country Athlete Profile". Athletic.net. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ Gardner, Frank (June 24, 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: Saudis allow women to compete". BBC News. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ Al Nafjan, Emma (July 13, 2012). "London 2012: don't forget that most Saudi women are banned from sport". The Guardian. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  9. ↑ Blake, Matt (July 12, 2012). "Saudi Arabia finally allows TWO female athletes to compete in London 2012 for first time in Olympic history". Daily Mail. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Olympian Sarah Attar Joins Oiselle - and Tells Her Story". oiselle.com. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  11. ↑ "New to Oiselle team". twitter.com. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ "For Saudi Judo Player, a Quick Loss But a Barrier Broken". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  13. ↑ "First Saudi Female Olympian Finishes Last". CBN.com. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  14. 1 2 Zeigler, Mark (July 12, 2012). "Escondido woman to make Olympic history". UT San Diego. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  15. ↑ "London 2012 Olympics: Saudi Arabian women to compete". BBC News. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Sarah Attar is first Saudi Arabian woman in Olympic track and field". The Guardian. August 8, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, July 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.